Why Does My Dog Have Diarrhea?

Contents

Your dog's stool can be a big signal to their health. Dogs poop to remove waste and unwanted products from their bodies in a natural way. Sometimes things can get a little bit messy though and their poop becomes liquidy and constant. This is the point where most dog owners grow concerned as this is generally a sign of an upset digestive tract. Listed below or some of the common causes of diarrhea and how to solve them easily in each case. All you need to do is some simple observation and follow these signs to hopefully determine what's bothering their stomach.

Diarrhea In Puppies

When a newborn puppy has never left the house, you may find yourself scrambling to learn why they are having so many problems with going to the bathroom. The truth is that puppies very often contract worms while nursing and may even be born with them. This happens by contraction from the mother dog and can even be passed on to the puppies while they are just nursing off of her milk. Ways to identify this are to pay close attention to the stool that’s released from the affected dogs and seeing if you can see larvae or worms that have exited the body in it.

If you find that your puppies have worms, the best bet is to call your vet to see what your options are depending on the age of the puppies. You also will want to de-worm all animals in your home as soon as possible to keep the worms from spreading. In the case of the puppies were just born, you may have to wait until they are 2 weeks of age and then go back for more treatments every few weeks from then on out to guarantee them to be worm free. Make sure you continue to check the dogs to see if they get back to having a solid stool after the medicine has had time to start working. If you have an older puppy, you may want to make sure you are feeding them proper formula. Growing dogs need a lot more nutrition than an older dog and might not be getting the food they need. If the kibble is too large, this also might cause some problems during digestion.

Food Allergies

Food allergies in dogs can be similar to the ones you and I can experience. When a dog comes in contact with or ingests certain items such as food or medication, a dog can have a variety of allergic reactions from common allergies like their eyes watering or having a runny nose to more severe reactions such as irritation of the skin or diarrhea. In most cases, diarrhea caused by an allergic reaction makes a dog’s digestive system to force any foreign objects like bacteria to be expelled through excrement so they do not dwell in the body for long periods of time.

If you have switched your dog's food lately, you can check out the nutritional label to see what ingredients may differ in the two brands. Even things like a sudden switch in food can jar a dog's sensitive digestive tract into an unfavorable reaction. Be sure to slowly introduce your dog to new foods in order to avoid any surprise reactions. Also, check on any food you may want to feed them to see if it’s safe for dogs to snack on them.

Toxins

Dogs can sometimes get into many things they shouldn’t mess with, to begin with, and it can definitely cause some slight illness to a dog such as a stomach ache or diarrhea. If you tend to leave food out in the open for long periods of time it can often spoil, leaving a chance for many critters like flies and other insects to flock to it which can cause the food to gain some rather unpleasant additives. If you have a dog in your home, it will most likely sniff out this food whether it’s still good or gone bad and will try to eat it causing your dog to possibly get sick in the process. Dogs eating spoiled food can be a major cause of it having diarrhea as bacteria that lingered on the food it ate can cause an upset stomach to occur.

Another huge cause can be the consumption of garbage by a dog who loves to dig snacks out when you're not looking. This can cause a dog to gobble up more than just your leftovers from supper such as chemicals, plastic, and all types of other harmful substances that can end up in the kitchen trash as well. You may also want to check what plants you have around the house as some dogs may end up chewing on your new garden out of boredom and some flowers can actually turn out extremely toxic when ingested and may be just what is irritating their stomachs. This can be solved by letting the dog go about his business and if there are other side effects like vomiting, however, you should seek medical help as soon as possible.

Treatment

If you’ve found out the cause and are just waiting for the ailment to end, here are a few things you can do to help your dog out. Diarrhea can be a huge cause of dehydration in dogs due to the high water levels uses in flushing the body out. Make sure your dog is getting plenty of water throughout the process to keep from a worsening sickness. Next, you should take away their food for at least 12 hours to give the stomach time to process whatever is bothering it. Make sure your dog has plenty of access to a bathroom area so they don’t feel like they have to hold it in. If a dog tries to hold in their poop to not get in trouble, this can make them feel even worse. You may even want to consider leaving them outside or putting down puppy pads to make them feel more comfortable.

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